Jail

Having had a few days of dreadful weather, today was beautiful sunshine all day. My plan was to pop out from work at lunchtime and go down to the River Stort to take some pictures…work had other plans for me though.

So, back home I had a couple of ideas for pictures but I didn’t have the appropriate props so I fell back on one of my guitars. I suspect you will become very familiar with my guitars over the next few months – I’ll try to hold them back for emergencies, but no promises.

I really like what the depth of field does to the strings on this picture – it makes it look like they are being vigorously strummed – they weren’t!

“This small single cell prison ceased its function in 1843 when the Dunmow police station opened. During the 1890’s this disused Lock-up was adapted to be a Soup Kitchen to help feed the poor of the area during those hard years. Lady Warwick is reputed to have provided venison for the kitchen from her neighboring lands.”

The lock-up was used most recently by a local cobbler who died a few years ago and the building was left to Dunmow Town Council who had some plans to turn it into a museum, but with the onset of the recession these plans have clearly been shelved and the building (which is a Grade 1 listed building) is slowly falling into disrepair.

The other week some drunken idiots kicked the door in (rather belying its previous use) and I noticed that the door was open as I walked past it. Well, you can’t miss an opportunity like that so I popped in with my camera and got a series of shots. It really was a delight to find some of the old cobblers tools and the ancient radio and TV that were left in there and it’s such a shame that the Dunmow public have been deprived of this for so long.